WWE Retro Figures Worth An Absurd Amount Of Money
Many pro wrestling fans, young or old, share a love of collecting. For kids, there's perhaps nothing more exciting than walking into a retail store and picking up their favorite wrestlers in action figure form. For adults, the thrill of collecting is a little different. For many adult collectors, it's all about the thrill of the hunt and the monetary reward.
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Throughout the years, countless pro wrestling action figures have been produced. What the average consumer doesn't realize is that the same toy that's currently sitting on store shelves could one day be worth a ridiculous amount. Much like some of these action figures.
10 The Hart Foundation LJN Two Pack
WWE's tag team division during the 1980s is widely regarded by fans and critics alike as being the best ever. The division was jam-packed with talented performers and legendary teams such as The British Bulldogs and The Hart Foundation. As a result, a few of the more popular tag teams had LJN action figures produced.
Every LJN tag team set ever produced has seen its value rise a great amount. However, perhaps the rarest and most expensive of these sets is The Hart Foundation. LJN also released individual figures of Bret "The Hitman" Hart and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, but The Hart Foundation box set in good condition could net upwards of $2,000.
9 Macho Man LJN Black Card Series
"Macho Man" Randy Savage is among the most legendary performers to ever work for WWE. Furthermore, despite having been deceased for over a decade now, Savage remains one of WWE's biggest merchandise movers. From shirts to action figures, anything Macho Man-related typically sells well.
With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that the LJN Black Card Series Macho Man figure is among the rarest and priciest figures around. To some collectors, the Macho Man Black Card LJN is the holy grail of LJNs. They're extremely hard to find but when available, they can sell for up to $4,500.
8 Dusty Rhodes Hasbro
Despite LJN being WWE's first official toy line, WWE's Hasbro toy line is widely considered by many action figure collectors to be the best WWE toy line ever. The articulation on the WWE Hasbros was always limited, but they certainly captured the essence of the performers they represented.
Hasbro was also the first wrestling toy line where the action figures had some type of action feature. As far as grails go for the Hasbro line, Dusty Rhodes is near the top of the list. Some fans might hate Dusty's time in the yellow polka dots, but a yellow polka dot Dusty Rhodes Hasbro can fetch a ridiculous amount online. A graded mint on card Dusty recently sold for nearly $10,000.
7 The Ultimate Warrior LJN Black Card Series
The WWE LJN Black Card Series was the final WWE LJN series ever. It also happens to be the rarest LJN WWE series ever. Ironically enough though, the rarity comes from the fact that the final series wasn't even produced by LJN. By the time the final WWE series was set to release in 1989, LJN closed their toy division. This led to a Canadian toy company, Grand Toy, producing the final series.
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The change in manufacturer and the fact that it was the final LJN series has made this entire series worth a fortune. The Ultimate Warrior's first WWE action figure just so happened to be part of the Black Card series. Today, if you're lucky enough to stumble across a Black Card Ultimate Warrior, it could set you back as much as $2,200.
6 The 1-2-3 Kid Hasbro
The final series of any toy line can make all the figures in that series especially rare. Much like the final series of WWE's LJN figures, WWE's final Hasbro series has become highly coveted by collectors. The Green Card Series included Ludvig Borga, Adam Bomb, Bart Gunn, Billy Gunn, Crush, Yokozuna, and The 1-2-3 Kid.
Perhaps the rarest of all these figures is The 1-2-3 Kid. The Kid wasn't the biggest star in WWE at the time, but he was a key figure during WWE's New Generation Era. Depending on the condition, a 1-2-3 Kid Hasbro figure can cost between $800 to $1,100.
5 Marble Ultimate Warrior Jakks Pacific Exclusive
The Ultimate Warrior is one of the most complex figures in wrestling history. On one hand, many accounts paint him as a terrible person who only wrestled for the money and who looked down on anyone who actually loved wrestling. On the other hand, he was one of the most memorable and iconic performers to ever set foot in a ring.
In the early-2000s, The Ultimate Warrior signed a deal with Jakks Pacific to release a series of extremely exclusive figures. One of those figures was a marble Ultimate Warrior. Only 20 of these figures were believed to have been produced and finding one out in the wild is difficult and could cost upwards of $2,500.
4 Hasbro Mail Away Figures
There's a certain nostalgia that WWE Hasbro figures provide for some collectors. For many collectors, the Hasbro line is a callback to their childhood or early pro wrestling fandom. While all WWE Hasbros are worth more now than they were at the time of their release, there are two specific series that have ridiculous value. The Green Card Series and the Mail Away exclusives.
The Mail Away Hasbro series consisted of only Bret Hart, The Undertaker, and Hulk Hogan. The Undertaker and Bret Hart were basically re-released with only slight differences from their original figures. However, the Hulk Hogan mail away was unlike any other Hogan Hasbro. Today, these figures are worth anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000.
3 Miss Elizabeth LJN (Purple Skirt Variant)
Modern-day wrestling figure collectors will let you know it's all about variants. Today, variant figures are the apple of many collectors' eyes, and with good reason. Variant figures are essentially limited edition releases that are lumped in with a regular action figure series. Nowadays, collectors are conditioned to seek out variants.
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Back in the 1980s though, the wrestling figure community was still in its infancy, and without the internet to rely on, information wasn't as readily available. That's what makes the Miss Elizabeth Purple Skirt Variant LJN so valuable. It's one of the first variants created. The common Miss Elizabeth LJN had a gold skirt. A purple skirt variant is nearly impossible to buy today. The last one sold for $1,800, but it's fair to assume that if another one surfaced it would go for well more than that today.
2 Sgt. Slaughter Mail Away
The Sgt. Slaughter Mail Away figure is one of the most interesting and sought-after wrestling figures ever. Its appearance is extremely misleading. To the naked eye, this Sgt. Slaughter looks like an LJN figure. Many collectors who own the figure even display it with their LJNs. In reality though, when the figure was released in 1987, Sgt. Slaughter didn't work for WWE.
The figure was made and sold by Hasbro. Making it look like an LJN figure was just a brilliant advertising move. In 2021, Mattel released an Ultimate Edition figure based on this exact Sgt. Slaughter. Today, a Mail Away Sgt. Slaughter may cost between $800 to $2,000.
1 Kamala Hasbro (Moon Belly Variant)
Logic would indicate that the biggest stars in pro wrestling history would end up being the ones who have the rarest action figures. Although there's a handful of extremely rare Hulk Hogan figures out there, that isn't always the case. Sometimes, obscure characters end up having the rarest figures.
The Kamala Moon Belly Hasbro variant is a great example of that. Kamala was a great performer no doubt, but it would be a stretch to call him an all-time great. Despite that, the variant Kamala Hasbro with the moon on its belly instead of the star is among the rarest WWE figures ever. A mint-on-card version of this figure could go for up to $10,000.
